Automatic feed for assembling presses



Oct. 11, 1932. R. A. SKRIBA ET AL AUTOMATIC FEED FOR ASSEMBLING PRESSES Filed Aug. 17, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct 11, 1932. R. A. SKRIBA ET AL 1,882,197

AUTOMATIC FEED FOR ASSEMBLING PRESSES zkmj gww Oct. 11, 1932. R. A. SKRIBA ET AL 1,882,1 97

AUTOMATIC FEED FOR ASSEMBLING PRESSES Filed Aug. 17, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 45 47 16 fizz/6753576! 2/ 76655 recler'o'oif Oct. 11, 1932. R. A. SKRIBA ET Al 1,882,197.

AUTOMATIC FEED FOR ASSEMBLING PRESSES Filed Aug. 17, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Oct. 11, 1932.

R. A. SKRIBA ET AL AUTOMATIC FEED FOR ASSEMBLING PRESSES Filed Aug. 17, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Jada! Patented Oct 11, 1932 UNETED STATES PATENT oarii'ca RUDOLPH A. SKRIBA AND FREDERICK JZ'LITTELL,

or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS men. J. LIrrELL MACHINE COMPANY, or CHICAGO, Immerse C'onronA'rIon' or" rumors AUTOMATIC FEED For; As'sEMB InG rniissns Application filed August 17,1928. Seria1 N 'o,'300,240

This invention relates to means for automatically selecting nuts or similar workpieces from an appropriate hopper or container in which they are placed in bulk, and feeding 5 them in accurately predetermined presentation, one by one, to a punch press or machine I in which they are to be used, in cadence with the operative strokes of the press, and in aposition which will enable each workpiece to enter an opening in a structural member held to receive the piece as a step preliminary to being permanently, secured in the structural member by the ordinary operation of the press. 5 y One object of the invention isto present the workpieces at the pointof dischargeof the hopper, hereinafter referred to as the, gate, not only with sufiicient frequency to insure an ample supply-of the pieces-within reach of the press, so that a piece will be avail able to the press each time the latterfunctions, but present the pieces with-their ends which are to enter the structural member located in the proper direction for insertion into said member. .To this end,one part of the invention proceeds upon the principle of providing a gate in the hopper through which the workpieces -may escape=one at a time, and guarding thisgate by a rotary the openings will pass only those workpieces which rest with their entering endspresented dimension and present their ends of lesser dimension upward the selector being made movable, for instance by mak ng 1t-1n .an-

nular form and causing itito rotate with the hopper, so that the pieces, bytumblin V in the hopper, will insure an ample supply 0 1 pieces to pass through the openings; and the wall of the hopper, preferably a stationary wall in which the'g'ate is-formed, that-it.

the rotation'of the hopper, willconstantly strainer or selector constructed with a series of characteristic openings appropriate to the design of the pieces and in such positions that in the desired direction, for instance, those pieces which rest upon their ends of greater selector being so related tofa surrounding;

file past the hopper gate and deliver a piece through said gate whenever the gate is clearedby the onwardrnovement of a previously enteringVpiece;=-travel of the provisional train of workpieces being imparted by having'the bottom of the entraining space move withthe hopper and selector; escape from the entraining'space through the gate being influenced by gravity; and'the hopper as a whole being'tilted to induce gravitation Q through the gate as well as flow of its' contained bulk of pieces toward the selector;-

the arrangement being such that the pieces" 7 rest their fiat faces upon their rotating support and slide or roll through cylindrical faces against the stationary confine of the entraining space provided by the wallin whlch the' gate is formedg andthe' angle of inclination of the hopper being preferably adjustable so that the proportion of-"the l weight of the workpieces borne by the revolving and stationar'y'w'alls, respectively,' as well' as the force of gravitationthroughjthe' gate, may be regulated to 'suit various designs of workpiece. 1

Ano her object is to provide means for au-' tomatic'ally supplying the workpieces to the press or machine in which they are to be used, one by one, in position to facilitate their insertion into the structural member and to expose thepie ces to'the upsetting, riveting, or other fixing stroke of the press; and to this end, another feature of the invention con sists in feeding the piecesin column from the gate of thehopper to a reciprocating press charger in a manner to cause the lead-' ing piece of the column to enter the path of the charger after each return strokeof the charger," for instance, by having the pieces reach an inletj port in the charging channel at such an ang'le to the charger that thebol umn isfirst" arrested by the entrance of the leading piece/of the column, and thereafter interrupted by the forwardly moving charg er untilthe charger uncovers the port on its return movement and admits another piece;

Another object of the invention is to provide an efiicient charger for the purpose stated, and one which, while retraced by the workingstroke of the press, and thereby posi nevertheless have its rearend sufficiently low 5 to leave the succeeding piece, as it enters in tively prevented from obstructing the descending press plunger, will be released to perform a spring energized charging stroke as the plunger retires upwardly, so that the charger can position thepiece over the press anvil early in the upstroke of the press, can remain at its forward limit in-embrace of the piece 'to steady the same while the hole in the structural member is being shifted over the piece 'andinto registrywith its entering end,

and will be withdrawnfrom' the piece only after the structural member has entered into engagement with the inserted end'justbe'fore the next downward stroke of the plunger ,the is preferred embodiment of this part ofthe in ventionincluding a sliding charger having a recessed forward end which enters into BID-'1 brace; with the workpiece, at leastto the ex tent of holding down the. workpiece and pre; venting it from bouncing-upward at the end "of the chargingstroke, or being otherwise displaced from the anvil by the: shifting of the structural member; also an inclined charging channel which, while attaining an elevation at its forwardend which leaves the piece, over the anvil protruding upwardly as a feelerfor the hole that it is to enter, will frontfof the charger, at a level well below the surfacewhich supports thefstructural' member during its manipulation, thereby avoidingany limitation of manipulation of the structural'memberin bringing its several openings into registry with the entering ends ofthe workpieces as the latter successively arrive, in position over the anvih H Another '-ob ect is to providemeans where- V by the structural member, immediately upon completion of the clinching stroke ,of-cthe press, will be automatically and positively of the operator; and to thisend, another ing,adjacenttheanvil, one or more'lifters,

displaced from the path of the ensuing nut,

or piece independently of any'voluntary act feature of the invention consists in providpreferably a pair, symmetrically disposed 011 opposite sidesof the anvil, and having these lifters actuated insynchronism with the u strokeof the plunger, and preferably the first "partofgthe upstroke; thelifters, however,

being released and automatically retired downward as soon as they have displaced the structural member sufliciently to clear the charging channel for the succeeding'nut or. work-piece; the means forrealizing this part of the-invention comprising-preferably oneor more vertically movable rods terminating adjacent the working plane of the press, nor-' mally spring retracted, but arrangedin the path'of a lifting leverflwhich in turn enters the path ofa grabjhook on a rod depending fromthe press plunger, and which hook, on

itsupward movement, encounters a gripping stop-that causes it to ,releaseethelifting lever.

as soon as the new-nut has had time toreach the anvil.

; While the body of material into which the workpieces are inserted is herein referred to as a structural member, and while the workpiece selected .to ;illustrate-. the invention is r a nut mounted in 'such member by upsetting its inserted end, it isto be understood that these specific applications are merely illustrative, and that the invention is applicable to the feeding of rivets, bushings, grommets, and many other forms of workpieces to any piece of'material whichean by manipulation be brought into position to receive them. In the accompanying drawings in' which the preferred embodimentof the invention-is shown by way of illustration-+- Figure,1is a side elevation; of a nut feeder is constructed iniaccordance with the invention, together with, those parts; of the punch press with which the feeder is -i1nmediately concerned.

scale showing thefhopper, 'Eigur eg 2 being avlew looking intothe' uppertopen end of the hopper, and Figure 3 arvertical axial section on the line 3w 3w of Figure?- a Figure 4.- is a detail view in the same direction asFigure 1, but on the scale of Fi g ures,

an Sh wing the; press charger and. the work lifter inside elevation.

Figure 5' is a detail; view on: the scaleof Figures 2; to 4 showing portions of the I press frame, inghorizontal section and the press table and charger inplan,

' -;Figure 6 isa detail viewon the scale of front elevation. V i

4 Figure 7 isia perspectivevview showingen-r adapted to supply the work pieceszentrain to said chute. 5 represents a-riveting die carp ried the plunger Glofthe press, whichvis moved verticallyintheconventional way, for

in stance,--;by means 'of, a shaft 7 having a drive wheel-8. V

a .591 represents, hopper base upon which hopper f4;j is -stationari ly mounted, said base being supported 4 with angular f adjustment, to; vary [the gravitation, of the work pieces,

Figures 2 and 35am views on an enlarged Figures 2 to f5,-showing itherwork lifter in in, a :vertical? plane. parallel; with the plane 1 of .the' chute 53: by mounting the -.hopper base upon-the spindle 10 carriedbythe bracket 1 the hopper base beingfixedatany'select.

'anglejof adjustmenththrough means, of segmentplate 12with i sconcentric slot 13, and

thebolt 14: which passes through the slot and bracket. 15. represents a drive wheelfor the rot ating; elements ;.of the hopper, connected I by belt 16 withpulley 17 on 'theshaf't7. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, hopper 4 contains a separately formed bottom 18 fixed to the rotating shaft 19: which is driven through suitable connection such as gear wheels 20 and 21, from the'shaft 15-A of pulley 15 with the efiect ofkeeping the work pieces stirred up or agitated; this agitation being the result of the surface travel of the i to or past this gate, entrain, by the marginal portion ofthe rotating bottom 18, upon which the work pieces rest. But in order that only certain pieces may enter the annular train,

a selector 23 is secured to the stationary wall I e of the hopper with a series of openings 24- presented in such position that only those work pieces can escape and become a part of the marginal train, which happen to be resting right side up. That is to say, the

" openings 2& are designed to correspond with the profile common to all of the work pieces and thereby act as a barrier to the passage of work pieces which may be travelingupon the smaller end but by constant presentation of numerous openings to work pieces'which are in proper position, insuring an ample supply of the work pieces in the marginal train which is constantly moving toward or past the gate 22. By this operation, the chute 3 will be kept filled with work pieces so that the column is constantly gravitating toward the automatic feed (to be described) which leads to the anvil 2; the length of the chute 7.3 in relation to the diameterv of the work pieces being such that a complete column will fill the chute to such a point that the constantly traveling annular train will pass the chute whenever it is full or drop one or more work pieces into the chute to fill in space that may be left at its upper end.

25 indicates agitators depending from spider arms 26 of the fixed wall of thehop per 4:, with vertical adjustment to determine their intrusion into the mass of work '28 on the shanks of the agitators, impinging above and below the spider arms 26. To

transfer work pieces from the delivery end of chute 3 to the anvil 2, said anvil, as shown more clearly 1n Figures 4 and 5, 18 provided with a 'shdeway 29 leading from a lateral intake port 30 with which the chute 3 con-- nects, to the seat 31 in the anvil 2 and in this slideway 29, with a stroke starting immediately in rear of the intake port 30, is a charger 32 of special design, which advances the work pieces individually to the anvil in advance of each descending stroke of the heading or riveting die 5, the charger being automatically withdrawn to a position which .admitsla succeeding work piece by each descendingstroke of the press. To impart the timed advancing and receding movements to the charger, as indicated, the charger is provided with an upstanding lug 33 having slot and pin connection 34'withthe down.- wardly presented arm of the bell crank lever 35, which is fulcrumed at 36 and moved norm'ally'in direction to advance the charger, by means of a. spring 37 extending from the rearwardly presented arm 38 ofsaid lever to some convenient fixed point of anchorage; said lever being retracted, in

opposition to the spring 37 and in the downward stroke of the press, by means of'a cam 39-co-acting. with the antifriction roller 4G on'tlie lever; "Thus with each upward strokr of the press,.lever 35 is released by-the can: 39 so that itsflower end swings forward under the influence of spring 37 engaging a work piece that has entered through the port 30, and advancing it to the seat 31. Seat 31 is so designed that it arrests the work piece at the end of the, forward movement of the charger, confines the work piece against lateral displacement and supports the work piece with its rivetingend above the level of table 40 so that the structural member with which the work piece'is to be riveted can have the appropriate punch hole or opening brought into registry withthe'riveting end of the work-piece in advance of the descentof thepress; and slideway 29 is inclined downwardly toward the rear from the anvil or seat 31 so that'while charger 32 will travel in a horizontal plane the next ensuing work-piece standing in the" path of the charger and awaiting advancement to the anvil, will not protrude above the plane of the table 40 whereit might obstruct the free sliding movement of the structural member over the table 40, in bringing such of its holes into registry with the rivet on the anvil. A. desirable feature in the design of the charger 32 is a pair of hold-down lips 41, which overlap the shoulder of the workpiece (shown at A in Figure 5) when the latter reaches its forward limit where it has moved out from beneath the overhanging walls of the T shaped slideway. By this means work-piece A is prevented from bounding out of the 'slideway at the end of its move or being displaced by the striking of the structural member against it, in the step of bringing the hole in the structural member into registry with the upstanding riveting end of the work-piece. This part of the operation comprises horizontal shifting of the structural member until the hole drops over the protruding riveting end of the workpiece, while the work-piece is being held steady by the charger, and then the'descent arm and which is in turn connected to said of the press plunger, in'response to the usual plunger, and a' releasable picksup connection pedal release. to head the rivet in the strucbetween the lifting rod and the rocker arm.

tural. member, which descent, by the opera- Signed at Chicago, Illinois,this 11th day ltltion of the cam 39, withdraws the charger of August, 1928. v i f so that the rivet may be settightly in the, RUDOLPH A. SKRIBA.

structuralmember. 1 v I V e FREDERICK J. LITTELL;

' Inasmuch as the machine automatically ad-v f a I vances a new work-piece'to the anvil .upon

-lfl 'itheupstrokeof the machine, it becomes im it Q a I Y A r portant to get the structural member which is being manually manipulated, out of the path of the succeeding workpiece. To this end displacing rods 42, the relative location 1330f which on either side ofthe seat 31 is indip v r V 60 cated in Figure 5, are mounted for Vertical movementand given a momentary upward impulseat the beginning of the upstroke ofthe press. As shown in Figures Land 6, v I mithese displacing rods 42,"are held normally, L r l V 86 downward by compression springs 4=3,but are 7 connected by a crosshead tflocatedin the path of therocker-arm 45 fulcrumed on shaft 46a, which is rocked andocaused tomove the, V 7 Warm upwardly, through means of lever 46 90 also on said shaft 46w; said lever being engaged by means of a tripping finger 4.7 on the lower endof a connecting rod'eS whichdepends from some suitable portion of the press o r I v s fliplunger, for instance, the bracket 49.1]Tl1ese v Y elements together with-a tripping stop 50 in 1 the path of the arm 51 of finger 4:7, const-ia tute self-releasing-lifting mechanism moving" momentarily upward sufiiciently to displace" I I v 5.? the structural member, with the now riveted, f V 1 work-piece, from the path of the incoming new work-piece, whileithe charger 32 is still being restrained by the cam 39. We claim:

l'ialnan assembling press,an anvil upon 1 n v a '1 i which work pieces are supported during assembly, a verticallyreciprocating plunger," 7 a charger for advancing saidwork pieces to said anvil, meanslautomaticaily moving/the I I V e V charger in timed relation to the -workingi o strokes of the plunger, and means automatically displacing the structural member after completion of the assembly; the last named means comprising a displacing rod with lift- U o a V 60' ing connections between the displacing rod L I j and the plunger. 7 g '2'. In an assembling press, an anvil upon which work pieces are supported during as' sembly, a verticailyreciprocating plunger, a

p 55. charger for advancing said work pieces to I I i said anvil, means automatically moving-the charger in timed relationto the working strokes of the plunger, and means automati- Vcally displacing the structural member after a 69 completion ofthc assembly;fthe last named H I j 5 means comprising a displacing rod with lift-- V ing connections between :the displacing rod and'the plunger, comprising a rocker arm, engagingthe displacing rod, a'lifting rod 7 1 a o 65 adapted toimpart movement to said rocker e I i I, V 2 

